Trolley-wheel bearing.



' A. c. SLOAN. TBOLLEY WHEEL BEARING. 1 APPLICATION FILED AUG. 28, 1908.

919,968; I Patented Apr. 27,1909.

. To all iuhomit may concern."

- that kind which 7 evenly and "of the whee larly pointed out in the appended c ,from the s.

- vice applied thereto.

" The. 919,968.

. UNITED STATES" PATENT oFFIoE.

ALBERT o. sLoAN, OF sA AMA cA, NEW YORK.

TItOLL'EY-WHEEL BEARING. I

Specification of Letters Patent.

. Patented April 27, 1909.

Y Application filed August 2a, 1908. Serial No. 450,734.

Be it known that I, ALB RT C. SLoAn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Salamalica, in the county of Oattaraugus and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Trolley-Wheel Bearing, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to lubricating devices for trolley wheels. I It has ,for its object to' provide a device of will distrlbute the lubricant A further object is to tion which will permit t slight lateral movement surface of the shaft.

A still further object is to provide a construction which will tend to force the lubricant from the reservoir.

I With these and other objects in view, as .will more fully hereinafter appear, the present invention consists in certain novel details e wheel to have a over the bearing hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and more articuaims, it being understood that various changes in the the device may be made without departing irit 0r sacrificing any of the advantages o the invention.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of the cal section of a trolley wheel showin my de- Fig. 2 is a si e elevation 0 a trolley wheel and harp showing the method of ap lying my axle thereto. 1g. 4 is a detail perspective of the oil'feeding member.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to design ate corresponding parts throughout.

The invention consists essentially in a holpe'scd prongs of a trolley harp, and rovided 'wlt-ha-inlet and outlet openings forjt crecepuid. The axle consists of two sections which will subsequently be termed the reservoir and plug sections; the former, or larger, of these is shown at 1 and consists of a hollow cylindrical member, the length of which is designed to .be slightly greater than the length of the hub 2 of the trolley wheel to positively to the bearing surface specification :Figure 1 is a vertiof the ,pole or harp due to such on provide a construe-- of construction and arrangement of parts,

.form, proportion, size and minor details of low axle designed tobe applied to the op- .tionand distribution of the lubricating liqwhich it is to be applied; This reservoir member terminates at one end in an enlarged circular head 3, the outer face of which is formed with a vertical recess 4, the Width of which is sufficient to straddle one of the forks 5 of the harp. An inlet opening 6 is formed in the head 3 and extends inwardly, terminating at the inner end'of the reservoir member 1. opening is such that when the trolley wheel is in engagement with the overhead wire, this opening will, onaccount of the angle ment, extend substantially vertical, t era by preventing the li uid contained within the reservoir from lea ring. This construction is well illustrated in Fig. 3. The reser voir isfurther formedwith an elongated opening 7 formed in the wall thereof, and

through which the lubricant passes to the bearing surface of the wheel. This opening is disposed substantially at right angles to the vertical recess 4, so that when the harp is vertical and out-of en feed wire, h0r1z0ntal gagement with the reservoirwhen the wheel is out of engagement with the feed wire, as it usually is when the car is in the barn. l The plug section consists .of a hollow cylindrica member 8, of less diameter than the member 1, and exteriorly provided with a thread ada ted to engage a similar thread formed in t e member 1,- and at the open end thereof. The plug member terminates in an enlarged circular head 9, corresponding indiameter to the head 3 and rovlded, similar to the latter, with a vertica The disposition of this age-- the opening Wlll be substantially with respect to the vertical plane of the harp. The function of this construction is to' prevent the oil from leaving the recess adapted to straddle-the opposite pron of the harp, as

clearly shown 1n Fig. 2, it eing understood that the length of the reservoir and plug sections will be approximately the same as the distance between the opposed outer faces of the harp prongs. Thus it will be seen that I have rovided a stationary axle upon which a suit ble trolley wheel may rotate.

In order to secure the axle member to the bar a suitable locking device is employed an in the present instance is shown to consist of a pin 10, provided at one end with a head 11, and at its opposite end with a thread 12. This member is of a length sufiicienttoextendto the opposed outer faces oi the harp prongs and is ada ted to enter alining openings, formed in sai prongs and similar openings formed in the centers of the heads 3 and 9 of the reservoir and plug sections.

The openings formed in the prongs of the v harp for the reception of the opposite ends of the pinv 1 0,- are of unequal diameter the smal er being threaded to receive the threaded end of said pin and the larger formed with a beveled wall which is'designed to surround the beveled side of the head 11. Thelatter is provided with a transverse opening which is adapted to be brought to register with a vertical opening formed in the rong of the harp and extending longitudina ly from the uppler edge of the latter, through the beveled wa s of theopening formed for the head 11, and terminating in a" horizontal opening 13, formed in the prong 5, beneath the beveled opening. Thus it will be seen that when the parts are in position illustrated in Fig. 1, and the opening of the head 11 brought into register with the vertical opening of the rong,

a suitable locking pin 14 of sufiicient ength may be inserted into the openings and the parts locked as illustrated.

, In order that a pro er amount of lubricant may be fed to the caring surface of the wheel through-the opening 7, without undue waste, the following feeding device is employed and-consists of a member 15, preferably formed from a sheet of spring metal bent to'theshape of a circle, with one of its longitudinal sides overlapping the other. This member is adapted to enter the opening of the reservoir 1, and to encircle the sup-- porting pin 10, it being understood that its exterior diameter will be considerably less than the interior diameter of the reservoir,

so as to permit a suitable absorbent element 16 to be interposed there between. ihe latter element may be of any suitable substance such as felt andthelike and'is designed to fill the entire space Within the reservoir between the outer face of the member 15 and inneriaceof the member 1, and to be packed therein tight enough to slightly contract the diameter of the member 15. Thusit can be seen when this element is saturated with lubri'cant, the tendency of the member 15 to expand, will be sufiicient to force the lubricant through the'o ening 7 to the bearing surface of the trol ey wheel, In order to yieldingly hold the'latter in a central position on the lubricating axle suitable s rings 17 are employed which are designe to bear against the opposite ends'of the hub 2.

straddle the opposite ends of the reservoir 1 on the inner side of the heads 3 and 9, while a portion adjacent their lower ends is bent to the shape of an obtuse an le and secured to the opposed inner faces oi theprongs 5 and 5, beneath the openings formed for the reception of the pin 10.

A'suitable washer 18 may be interposed between the edges of the hub and inner face of the sprin s as shown in Fig. 1.

What is claimed is w 1. The combination with a trolley harp and wheel, of a tubular axle having. a head at either end provided with a recess adapted'to embrace the arms of said harp, said axle being further provided with an opening disposed at right angles to the said recesses and communicating with the bearing surface of. I

the wheel.

2. The combination with a trolley harp and wheel, of a tubular axle having a reservoir section provided at one end with an enlarged head having a recess adapted to' embrace a prong of said harp, and a plug section to fit into said reservoir section provided at one end with an enlarged head having a recess adapted to straddle the other prong of said harp.

3. The'combination with a trolley harp and Wheel, of a tubular axle having a reservoir section provided at one end with a circular head having a vertical recess adapted to straddle one prong of said harp, and intermediately provided with an outlet 0 ening communicating with the bearing sur ace of said wheel, a plug section to fit lnto said reservoir provided at one end with a circular head having a recess adapted to straddle the other prong of said harp.

p 4. The combination with a trolley harp and wheel, of a tubular axle having areservoir section adapted to engage one prong of said harp and provided with an outlet opening communicatin with the bearing surface of said wheel, a iquid absorbing element ALBERT C. SLOAN. Witnesses:

C. R. MCCANN, CHAS. J. I'IU'BBELL.

aim the foregoing as within said reservoir, and a resilient tubular element axially mounted in the reservoir sec- 

